First Minister Peter Robinson had a busy schedule to get through on Tuesday, including talks with the Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan, on his first full day back at Stormont after suffering a heart attack last week.
Mr Robinson, the DUP leader, had said he would cut back on his work as he recuperates from his illness, but nonetheless was back at his office at Stormont Castle early in the morning.
There he met DUP ministerial colleagues and his party's deputy leader, North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds, as they prepared a plan on how to approach the talks chaired by Mr Flanagan and Northern Secretary Theresa Villiers on Tuesday afternoon.
Before the discussions began at 4pm, Mr Robinson, flanked by Mr Dodds and Minister of Finance Arlene Foster, gave a "doorstep" press conference where he warned of the dire consequences if Sinn Féin did not sign up to welfare reform proposals.
He outlined a strategy, which clearly had been discussed earlier: the DUP would seek to push through a budget in the coming weeks based on the Stormont House Agreement to test whether Sinn Féin could be persuaded or compelled to accept the welfare changes.
He then travelled the short distance from Stormont Castle to Stormont House, where he joined leaders of the four other main parties for the talks with Ms Villiers and Mr Flanagan.
Those talks, expected to conclude at about 5pm, continued until after teatime.
Garda files
Mr Robinson also held bilateral talks with Mr Flanagan. He pressed the Minister to ensure that Garda files about the Kingsmill Massacre, in which 10 Protestant workmen were killed by the IRA in 1976, were released to the Belfast coroner's court.
He asked for the disclosure after the coroner’s court on Monday was told that, despite a previous commitment by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, the files had still not been produced.
“I am very disturbed at the fact that we are still waiting for documentation,” Mr Robinson told reporters ahead of that meeting.
“I have spoken to Charlie Flanagan some months ago on the issue,” he added. “There had been a commitment that documentation would be forwarded. I want to have a conversation with him to see whether that is going to be forthcoming and when it is going to be forthcoming.”
According to a Government spokesman, Mr Flanagan told the First Minister that Mr Kenny’s commitment would be honoured.
